ewen21

The weight is not an issue if he is jacked and has worked out all winter.

I agree with this. We have promoted guys who are undeserving and other guys like Kepler are just left to "take their lumps" in hope that a light goes on and they figure it out. I am tired of this strategy. One huge problem we have had is literally no players in AAA. It is almost as though we have disregarded AAA completely. That is the next step and if there is little to no depth or competition there it fosters a weak culture. Buxton, Sano, Kepler....these guys need to feel the heat. They are not in need of more nuturing. THey have gotten that in spades. This generation of Twins needs to understand that where you were drafted and how much hype you have been given does not give you an endless leash. YOu need to perform and if you don't for long enough we are going to sit you down or demote you and find someone else who can play.

Sano, Buxton and Castro had bad offensive years and it is not something I will chalk up to injury. Buxton and Sano are by no means guys you can rely upon to give consistent offensive producion. A lot of us made the mistake of assuming growith would naturally arrive. Both players regressed. Castro just straight up cannot hit. He never could hit. MIsssing their at bats did not have as much of an affect on the offense as people would like to believe. Sano and Buxton have a lot to prove and I will not make an assumption/forecast for either. With the trajectory of their careers thus far I would not be stunned to see either guy (or both) flame out or one reason or another. I sure as heck hope not, but this is the current reality witb both

I have trouble initiating Kepler. Sano and Buxton into "core status" after what went down last season. All three were disappointments., but Sano and Buxton went well beyond that. A week or so ago there was a thread about perhaps needing to pivot away from Sano and Buxton and here they are building blocks for the future. I have not completely given up on Sano and Buxton, but I am not wagering on them, Buxton is not a good hitter and when he struggles he presses. Once that happens he becomes a mess. Will he ever get past that? I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball. I will say that because Torii Hunter or whomever struggled some when they were young and got it together it doesn't mean the same will happen with Buxton. Plus, Hunter never struggled as mghtily as Buxton has. Not by a longshot. Furthermore, I can't chalk up Buxton's seasons to injuries. He was off to a slow start before he went on the DL. The other thing about his injuries is that they will compound and get worse over time if he doesn't wise up and alter his approach. As far as Sano is concerned, the guy is a mess right now. I don't care if they reported what happened in the DR was an accident. I have trouble with the fact that stupid things seem to happen when he is around. What the heck is he doing getting behind the wheel after leaving a club at 3AM? THat is stupid. I am sorry. FOr a guy with all the resources in the world at his fingertips he never ever should be in that situation. Between Sano and Buxton we have two guys who can implode at any moment. "Core players" give a team stability. These two do not in any way, shape or form.

THat is part of the issue with Buxton. The migraines will be there and so will an array of other injuries since he plays with a reckless abandon. Part of his development involves him figuring out a way to stay healthy. Quite honestly, he was not hitting the first few weeks. YOu can cite a "small sample size" but I was very concerned about how he'd start off--especially after I read this article: https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/28/twins-star-byron-buxton-takes-pride-in-his-ability-to-play-through-pain/ I don't give him a pass this last season. He needs to prove himself to me. Two months at the end of 2017 is really all he has. Apart from that he has been a terrible hitter--so bad it was too hard to justify putting him in the lineup.

Too soon for me.

Puckett did get some time in AAA and Knoblauch spent a full year in AA, but OK. Still not on the same level as penciling in KIriloff and Lewis as starters in 2019

Sorry for the tone of that last response, but I just can't take hearing about "call up _______ and let him take his lumps" We have done this already. Recently, too. When does it work? Almost NEVER

Good lord am I sick and tired of this "history lesson" Everyone knows the story, but go ahead and name two more guys who had the same thing happen. Talk to us about two guys in our system since Hrbek that were promoted like that and became part of a "nucleus" that won? It is the stupidest thing in the world to suggest the players you listed be called up to "take their lumps" If the Twins did what you suggest, not only would the be the laughing stock of baseball, but they could also be ruining the development of some of these players. Why? Because it worked once in 1981! Can we divorce ourselves from this lunacy once and for all?

I almost just threw up in my mouth!

Amen to that. This takes me back to the Gardy debate when if it were suggested Gardy be fired some homer would pipe up saying, "Who you gonna get that's better?" I can't pretend to know who is the right fit for this job, but after watching Molitor I know for sure it ain't him

Let this be a lesson..... Stop hyping prospects. I visited Twins boards for years and these two have been hyped up as saviors for years. I am actually psyched about Kiriloff and Lewis, but I don't need to read about how their talents are so amazing that I need to be in awe and genuflect when their names are mentioned Those kinds of articles ran constantly on Buxton and they really got tiresome to me. Can he at least play a game in the majors before we get so giddy?

Defense does NOT make up for his horrendous bat. If he is south of ,700 he hurts the offense too much. He was not earmarked to be Jackie Bradley Jr and if he turns out to be that he is a bust. The kid was hyped up so much in so many places so he was set up to be that if he failed. I wanted to wait and see before I anointed him anything. At this point, I don't view him as a "super-prospect" so I don't think he deserves endless rope. This article needed to be written. Both players have forced the Twins to think this way. This "play him everyday and let him take his lumps" mantra doesn't work 95% of the time. Just because Hrbek was called up from Visalia in 1981 and it worked doesn't mean it is going to work. People need to understand this

Excellent point, then again, he had the dumb luck to be leaving a club while he ran over a cop with his car. That just doesn't look good (innocent or not).

Looks to me like are making much assumptions as well. If someone says he ends up in "situations" because he isn't using good discretion how is that off base? Going out until 3AM leaves ANYONE wide open for a lot of things to happen. Whether it is an accident or not he takes responsibility for it. Apparently the officer was friends with Sano from school. How do we know the initial reports to reflect reality better? How do we know Sano didn't broker a deal with his officer friend? It all seems fishy and I rather doubt he was 100% sober at 3AM leaving a club. Sano does silly things. If he gets judged for it then OH WELL.

I am a Twins fan first. I don't see where signing Joe to hang on a little longer is a good thing on several different levels. Not for the Twins, not for Joe or his family.

I surely hope Joe doesn't drag this out although it would be fairly typical of him. Seems to me like this is a simple decision. Here is a player who is clearly well past his prime and has told the media that he felt the after affects of a concussion for THREE YEARS. Then he needed several weeks on the shelf again this year for a concussion. The Twins owe Joe Mauer nothing. They made him rich, gave him the benefit of the doubt whenever necessary and praised him (even during times where it was not deserved). If Joe drags this out past Thanksgiving and his decision still isn't made by the time we approach winter meeting, I have a problem with that. We need to build a roster. Mauer has had all year to think this one through and there is no reason to be all wishy washy about it. If he is, and this drags out for a long period of time during the offeason, he is doing the Twins a disservice. I hope to heck he understands that although I have my doubls. Joe just kind of does Joe. And that is that.

Correa's liftime batting average is 47 points higher than Buxton's and his OPS is 160 points higher. Not sure when or how Buxton finds himself as a hitter, but if he can't he will be a bust. I don't like saying that, but I can't spin this one.. Buxton was being compared to Jackie Bradley last year when Bradley hit well in the first half of 2016. Well, Bradley didn't hit last year and he isn't this year. Still he is hitting better than Buxton. He is also on par with Buxton in the field. Buxton isn't even Jackie Bradley Jr. at the current moment.

Sorry, but I cannot help but roll my eyes at the title of this article.

Buxton is supposed to be a high character guy. Instead of getting mad at the Twins he really needs to look in the mirror. The Twins have been ultra supportive and very very patient with him. If he cannot stay healhty then at some point he needs to address that. It isn't like the Twins made him get injured. It isn't all their fault he can't hit either.. The idea that the Twins somehow screwed Buxton really is mystifying to me. Sure, they haven't done well developing players, but when is it ever going to be on Buxton? When is he going to put on the big boy pants and be a major leaguer? I am very disappointed in him and with how he conducted himself at the end of this sesaon. If he thinks he's an elite player then he is delusional.

Chasing down "an ace" is a fool's errand for almost every team most years for myriad reasons unless you are a contender looking for that additional piece to put you over the top. Getting "an ace" adds no assurances: 1. Pitchers are very much year to year. The likelihood of injury and a guy having down years is very high. 2. Most pitchers considered to be "an ace" are getting on the other side of the hill (if they aren't there already) 3. We are not by any strech contenders so this is not a one player fix. 4. We had an ace in Johan Santana and that didn't exactly get us far in the playoffs. The problem was we could not hit in those series. Go back and look it up if you don't believe me. I am tired of all this "gotta get an ace" junk. All those who screamed about Darvish, how did that one work out? While I think Ted is overly optimistic, I don't see pitching as a big problem next year. 2019 is a big BIG year for the development of some young arms. Then again, if Buxton, Sano and Kepler are dogs again we can forget about 2019. All three of them need to play very well for us to have any shot

The problem with working so hard to "stay positive" is that in the process one can stray too far from reality.

The education of Linus Van Pelt continues

How do you know it's overblown if we really can't measure it's influence? I think it is important sometimes, depending on who the leader is. I think Jeter was a very important element to the Yankee teams because he led through example. The guy had such a high standard, worked so hard and give it all on the field. Other players saw that and understood they better do likewise. It matters as much as poor leadership, which can sidetrack a team

If Buxton is not answering Torii's messages he has issues. This is a kid who has been praised for his great attitude, but this stuff is horribly immature. Torii has been a mentor, a friend and his biggest advocate. For Buxtom to not respond to his messages? That is indefensible. He could be mad at the GMs but Torii did nothing to him. He was lauded as a high character guy. I'm wondering what it is about him that made him that. Maybe he was respectful of authority when he first came into the organization. So what? That's what you're supposed to do. One thing that has become apparent is he doesn't seem to handle adversity very well. Not sure how an athlete can be "high character" and throw a tantrum like this. Never mind that presses every single year out of the gate and seems to have a mental block about that. For him to ignore Torii at this time is out of hand